The sinking of Aban Pearl puts the operational capabilities of PDVSA in serious doubt.
Five years ago, in 2005, PDVSA announced that it would develop directly the Mariscal Sucre natural gas project. After a five-year wait, the government of Hugo Chavez again went public to say that the country had decided to conduct directly exploration and production operations for natural gas in the Mariscal Sucre project, offshore Eastern Venezuela. They said that the time had arrived to establish national sovereignty over Venezuelan gas resources (although Russians and Spanish companies are drilling for gas in other areas of the country). To this end, Chavez declared, PDVSA would conduct operations without any need for foreign assistance or participation. A drilling rig, entirely operated by the revolutionary oil company, would be starting operations soon. The rig chosen was the Aban Pearl, built in 1977, hardly a new piece of equipment. It was contracted to the owners for the handsome rate of some $358,000 per day until 2015. The owners of the rig proudly announced this rental as a major positive development for the company. Minister Giordani, who knows about oil about the same he knows about Sanskrit, spoke of the rig and its crew as “the pride of Venezuelan engineering”.
A short time after starting direct, revolutionary operations, the PDVSA's operated Aban Pearl sank. Fortunately there were no human casualties and the well apparently had not reached the producing horizon, so that there was no danger of hydrocarbon contamination to the waters.
The first news about this disaster came, characteristically, from Hugo Chavez's twitter. He seems to control everything in the country, including the issuing of good or bad news. Also characteristically he and his associates tried to present the disaster as a victory by defining the barge operators as heroes. While it is true that no one died since the slow tilting of the barge gave everyone plenty of time to leave, it is also true that someone must have made the hell of a mistake, either in contracting the barge or in operating it incorrectly.
One of two things: either the barge was in poor condition and it should not have been contracted or it was in excellent condition and it sank due to poor operational performance. This barge had almost capsized in Trinidad-Tobago waters in August 2009, a few months before being contracted by PDVSA. The crew was evacuated then and some comments by observers emphasized the poor condition of the equipment and the lax safety attitude of the contractor (as reported by The Guardian, Trinidad newspaper that covered the incident). In spite of this accident the barge was contracted by PDVSA to its owners until 2015, at the rate of some $358,000 per day. Information from the owners lists this rate as the second best rate obtained by their rigs, many of which were much newer than the 30 year-old Aban Pearl.
Of course, an accident can happen anywhere, anytime. What makes a difference is the attitude of the operators. In the case of the tragic accident in the Gulf of Mexico there is an investigation in progress and the operator has assumed full responsibility for the consequences. In the case of the Aban Pearl no real details have been issued and the spokesmen of PDVSA have kept mum. Chavez and some collaborators, totally ignorant about oilfield practices, are the ones doing the talking.
The attitude of PDVSA regarding the whole offshore natural gas operation in Eastern Venezuela has been most unprofessional. They waited five years to start, after they announced that they would conduct the work directly. This already shows extreme negligence because they should now be in the full production stage while they still are at the starting point. They made a big deal out of something which is routine in the oil world, describing the start of the operation as a major “revolutionary” achievement, painting the unfortunate barge in red and even suggesting, as Planning Minister Giordani did, that the barge and the operators were the “pride of revolutionary engineering”. In this inflated atmosphere created by government propaganda to make the operation look like the advent of a “second independence” in order to impress the ignorant; the sinking of the barge acquired an equally symbolic dimension. The “second independence” had failed!
Today no one knows what will happen next, regarding this accident. Who is responsible? Who was operating? Will Venezuela end up paying for the whole tragedy? What is the nature of the contract? Was corruption a factor in the signing of such a contract for the barge, as opposition leader Ismael Garcia has already suggested?
The problem with the so-called “revolution” is that it pretends to be rediscovering the wheel in everything they do or try to do. Offshore drilling has been around for many years, it is not an invention of the “revolution”. What seems to an invention of the Chavez “revolution” is extreme inefficiency, maximum corruption and, specially, the big mouth.
Gustavo Coronel is a 28 years oil industry veteran, a member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), author of several books. At the present Coronel is Petroleumworld associate editor and advisor on the opinion and editorial content of the site. All his articles can be read in Gustavo's blog. Las Armas de Coronel . Mr. Fyfe's paper has been quoted with his authorization. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.
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Petroleumworld News 25/05/2010
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